No Turning

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

NO TURNING

Acts 13:6-12

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

NIV

So here we are in Paphos and we get to meet a Jewish sorcerer. That seems like an oxymoron. How can a Jew be a sorcerer? We would think a Jew is a Jew and a sorcerer would be a sorcerer.  How does someone with all the history of his ancestors, the knowledge of God and all he did throughout history in the lives of all of Israel turn to sorcery as a lifestyle. There are two supernatural powers in this world, which are not equal, but are in fact diametrically opposed to each other. The divine power of God and then there is the dark power of Satan, which in this case is defined as sorcery. He was also defined as a false prophet, someone pretending to be a foreteller of the future. All his actions pointed Paul to call him a child of the devil, and thus an enemy of everything that is right, which would be God. We could focus on the result of his encounter with Paul and Barnabas, good men, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, but a nagging question still remains about this oxymoron, a Jewish sorcerer. What lesson can we learn from him? Is it possible that we who have all the history of our experience with Jesus ever turn to the dark arts? Although we may never actually become involved in sorcerer per say, is it possible we could adapt the ways of the devil without being aware of it? Could he infiltrate our way of thinking, influence how we approach life, trusting in our own abilities to achieve our ambitions, goals, or plans? This sorcerer appeared to be able to do forms of magic, promoting himself as a fortune teller of sorts, all under the name of being A Jew, one of the chosen people, the chosen nation of God. Of course we saw that Paul, under the power of the Holy Spirit caused this man to go blind, having a darkness come over him. He was already spiritually blind so why not be physically blind as well, showing the power of God is far mightier than the magic of the devil. Would we not be better off to reject all the ways of this world, the magic of the devil, and put our whole trust, our complete trust for every aspect of our lives in the almighty power of God? Who of us can foretell our future? Who of us can plan out every aspect of our lives so detailed that we know what and where we will be in fifteen, ten, five or even one year from now? How can we plan out our lives so completely based on our efforts, our saving or investing for material gains for the future if we trust completely in God, rather than the schemes of the devil? Is not trusting in the flesh, adapting the schemes of the devil? If a Jew can turn to sorcery then it is possible a Christian can turn to some form of the devils ways. We need to be so careful not to allow the devil to infiltrate our thinking, to keep our eyes totally focused on Jesus, not to be distracted by the temptations posed before us, especially the temptation to trust in our own efforts to sustain us, achieve our desires or gain fame or fortune. All that we are, and all that we have is only from the hand of God. He orders our footsteps. The path of righteousness is straight and narrow, we cannot allow ourselves, like that sorcerer, to turn. No turning.